Beyond The Silver I
by electricsymphony
Summary: They met at an apple tree, what they didn't count on was a new life together. Can the jumped up mudblood and the BoyWhoLived survive Hogwarts in the snake den? Or will they leave in caskets?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. It's J.K's world, I'm just living in it.**

Selection of the Serpent

* * *

Hanging on a limb from an apple tree after class was not the way that Harry Potter had wanted to start his summer vacation. Most children would be going away; the United States or Scotland, France; anywhere but here. Harry however, was stuck here with Ms. Figg as the Dursleys had won a trip to the Caribbean Islands, and besides: Ms. Figg wasn't _too _bad. She was, however, a horrid cat lady who served you ten month old cake and assured you she had bought it yesterday. Dudley had just given his goodbye (which consisted of being chased around until Harry found a nearby tree) and had left with his parents. He was happy to see them gone, but not so happy as soon as he realized Ms. Figg would be wondering where he had gotten off to. Sometimes, he wished he could stay in the tree _forever._

He heard a noise on the ground, and found a girl peering up at him. He was not visible since the leaves were all in the great greenish color. _Have I ever seen her before, _he wondered, looking down at her, peering into what he thought were her eyes. He jumped down so fast he heard the girl shudder only a second after he dropped and made a SPLACK noise on the ground.

"Hello," he said, walking over to her, "Who are you?"

"Hermione Granger," she said, taking a step toward him, "What were you doing in that tree?" He saw her starring at him, waiting for the answer. He had known it would come up eventually, but he was sure he could think up an effective lie without giving away who he was. After all, the chances of her being new here were slim to none. There were not that many new people who moved in around here. She edged him on and he knew at once what he would say.

"I saw an apple," he exclaimed, pointing high, "up there in the second section of the tree. The apples grow around here at least once a day; I really like picking them. There better than the ones my Aunt get at the Store 'cept she'd never let me have any; I stole on of Dudley's the other day." He looked at her silently, cursing as he gave away his identity. He was about to leave when the girl turned around.

"Well, I'm new here. What's your name; I only moved in yesterday?" Harry's face lit up and he looked at her again. She was new; he'd never seen her before, but she looked around his age. "How old are you?"

"I'm Harry; Harry Potter." He said, and he smiled. He would finally meet someone who didn't think he was critically insane as Dudley badgered into them. Dudley must have not talked to her already; she just moved in yesterday. "I'm ten," he added as an afterthought, "I'll be eleven in July."

She looked at him and nodded. "Well, I live in that place over on Magnolia Crescent; it's a small creaking house and it kind of gives me the creeps. My parents are dentists; I used to live near Edinburgh but we moved here for one of Dad's conventions." She took a deep breath, "So, where do live?"

"I live with my Aunt and Uncle on Privet Drive but I don't think they know I exist; they went on a vacation in the Caribbean so I'm staying with batty old Ms. Figg; she's got a thing for cats." Hermione's eyes opened in worry, but stopped at the look on Harry's face. They sat in silence for a moment, and Harry looked at her more closely. She was wearing a white skirt and a red sweater; Harry thought the color of the sweater was way too bright to be allowed in this world. He was just happy to have made a new friend.

"Do you want to climb the tree with me?"

Hermione looked hesitant, but nodded. The book in her hand was left on the rock next to the tree as she climbed up after him. For a moment, he sat on a branch next to her, propping his feet against the trunk lying next to him. Hermione looked distant and looked all the way to the bottom; in obvious terror. "You don't have to climb it with me, you know. It's alright if you're scared of climbing trees; I used to be, you get used to it."

He looked at her and she was smiling. There was a flicker in her eyes until it past; realizing she was so high up. He helped her up and she smiled as he put his hands on her waist. They flickered on each other, and than back at the tree. They laughed endlessly as they tried to get Hermione to go higher, which only resolved in Harry laughing his head off and Hermione giggling softly.

This was the first good summer Harry Potter ever had.

* * *

"Hello, Miss Figg; can I get you something to drink?" Harry Potter was an early riser, not matter the circumstances. He had raised that way; making breakfast for the Dursley family ever single morning since he was six, guaranteed he wouldn't burn down the house. Ms. Figg thought it was insane but she shrugged it off and kept a close eye on him. Harry always knew this, but he felt weird as she knew he was watching him, almost like a hawk. He had to breakfast early today, for he was meeting Hermione in the park.

It had been about a month since they met at the tree, and Hermione was helping him plan vigoursly for his _first ever_ birthday party. It was July 23rd, 1991 and he was eagerly awaiting his meeting with Hermione in the park. The even better thing was that the Dursleys had postponed the trip _back_ to Surrey, therefore making them not home for another _two weeks!_

He was ecstatic, bouncing around the kitchen like a little boy on a sugar high; not that he had much sugar growing up, but he was insane! He had made breakfast for four in the morning after a shower complaining he couldn't sleep. Ms. Figg looked like murdering him for getting her up at five in the morning, but seeing that he made breakfast she couldn't help but smile at the boy.

"Thank you, Harry; I'd like that." Harry smiled and got her some orange juice in a glass full to the brim, looking as it was about to explode. His grin was the size of the United States and he skipped when he walked, though he tried to hide it. He was a bundle of joy, and Ms. Figg couldn't wait to get him out of the house. "Harry, why don't you go and see Hermione," she said, smiling, "Come back whenever you want; today is your day."

He grinned madly.

* * *

Arabella just starred at the place that used to be Harry Potter. She wasn't sure what to think; the boy was fast friends with the Granger girl and ever since she had seen the girl mistakenly fill her orange juice glass to the top with magic, she had confronted Dumbledore about it. Sure enough, she was an upcoming Hogwarts student and he sent the letter out to her the moment after Arabella had left. That was yesterday, so she suspected that Hermione would not have good news when he saw her this afternoon.

She went up to fill her coffee cup, but sighed as she thought about Harry. He was such a bright boy, spend more time with Hermione than he did with her, and he was certainly as driven as his parents. The boy was a speeding bullet all through the house in the mornings, and she laughed every time.

He would be devastated to hear he will be away from Hermione; but come July 31rst, he'll get one big surprise.

* * *

"Hermione!" Harry practically screamed and leaped into her arms when he saw her. "You won't guess what's going on!" He grinned happily as he walked his way over to the brunette. "It's amazing; the Dursleys aren't going to be back from the trip for another two weeks! That birthday party you were talking about; we can have it now; without the Dursleys!"

He looked at Hermione and she looked very distant. He looked over at her and realized that was very cold and distant, as though she had something she couldn't say. "Harry…" she had tried talking, but it was hard against her lifeless tongue. She bit her lip, not waiting for an answer from him. "a letter came from me last night after I left your house; and well, it's a letter from a school." She took a deep breath. "It's a northern co-ed boarding school; and they've…"

Harry stopped dead. Did she mean, no she couldn't? Could she? "You are going to Stonewall," he asked, out of breath, "right?"

She didn't answer. He didn't answer. They looked at each other for a long time, neither wanting to talk to the other. She couldn't see his emotions; he always hid them quite well. She could tell however, inside he was breaking down. "No!" He said, pounding his fist on the picnic table. "You can't!"

"Harry, I have to."

"What about me…"

* * *

She had been debating whether to tell him about the book or not all night last night. After the initial shock of acceptance, she had opened the book Professor McGonagall had given her and starting reading. One of the first things she read in Hogwarts and History was that _Harry Potter_ was their savior. He had defeated Voldemort while his parents, _Lily and James _had been killed.

No wonder he knows nothing about his life; he's the savoir of the bloody wizarding world. As a self updating book however, it informed her that wherever Harry Potter was he would be receiving a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts this coming year, on his birthday. The birthday party that she was planning; for the Boy-Who-Lived! Obviously Harry's Aunt and Uncle hated him so much because they knew; maybe they wanted his fame or something.

No, maybe it was the wrong person. There had to be more than one Harry Potter. She only had one choice as of what to do. There were rumors about him having a lightning bolt scar but those were just rumors. Odd, she thought that she had been his friend for a month and not seen his forehead.

"Harry," she said hastily, "Can you listen for one moment?" She asked, in a hurry. "Let me see your forehead."

He did and Hermione gasped. There, bold and plain, was the lightning bolt scar.

She bolted.

* * *

Several days later, Hermione hadn't talked to Harry since the incident. His birthday was coming pup quick; it was now July 28th and she had spent all this time huffing and puffing about it. She knew she had to apologize, but she was in a very compromising position. She saw her mother and she was going to talk but her mother put her hand to her lip. "I'm calling Ms. Figg; we need to have a talk."

So, without much hesitation she dialed the phone number. "Ms. Figg?" She asked, holding the phone to her ear. "Yes," she answered, eyes locked on the phone, "That'd be fine."

She turned to Hermione. "She's coming over."

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. Her mother got up to answer it, Hermione hot on her heels. Hermione couldn't help but notice that the older woman wasn't looking very well rested these days. She looked tired as she tried to put on a smile. She was invited inside, and they sat by the fire. She was wishing that someone would just drop the bomb already. "I know your wondering why you're here…"

"It's a bit obvious to me; Hermione's gotten her letter, heard about Harry Potter and is thoroughly confused with all of it." She took a deep breath, looked around at everyone, and gasped. How did she get it so right, it didn't make any sense. Seeing Hermione's odd look, she added, "It was more obvious after he came home wailing you wanted to see his forehead!"

Everyone was silent. "Better start at the beginning, shouldn't I? Well, in the wizarding world there was a young man who's name was Tom Riddle, often not known; a background character. He soon became Lord Voldemort, with some help from allies. He threatened everyone, and made sure nobody could come out it alive. Now, Voldemort went to the Potters house. He knew they were a real threat to his building army and managed to kill James Potter. He also killed Lily Evans Potter, who stood in the way of his killing little Harry, the one he wanted. However, when he tried to kill Harry, he couldn't. Nobody quite knew how, except perhaps Dumbledore; however, if he did now, he's too contained to tell anyone. He placed Harry under his Aunt's protection because of the relationship there was a blood connection through the wards keeping him safe. I already lived here, and Dumbledore told me to keep an eye on Harry. I'm a squib, of a magical family with no powers myself. Hermione is a witch, and Harry is a wizard. Here's the catch; he doesn't know it yet."

"We have to tell him!" Hermione cried in outrage.

"His owl will come in a few days; he will know then; on his birthday."

"No; I'll tell Harry now!"

She stopped, seething. A voice came into focus, confused, "Tell me what?"

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked it; review.

A/N 2: Please ignore the cliché of this story; it gets more original, I promise.

A/N 3: I have no idea when Hermione would get her letter, seeing as her birthday is just after the cut-off date in September. Surely, after she turned eleven in 1990 she wouldn't have gotten it then, a year earlier, would she? Harry got his on his birthday. Doesn't make any sense, so I made it up.

That's it. Please review.


	2. The Cherry Tree

_**The Cherry Tree**_

* * *

The cherry tree looked slightly smaller as it hung outside of Harry's window, swinging in a beat that Harry knew all too well. He had been watching it for about an hour now, swing back and forth in a pattern that Harry now knew too well. Ever since he had left Mrs. Figg's in a rage, he had been starring at this tree from outside the room he had thrown himself inside. It was one of Mrs. Figg's spare rooms that she only ever used when she had extra company over. She had told him this cock and bull about being a wizard and at the first sign of trouble and lies… he fled.

They had told him he was powerful; so he fled. He flinched visibly as he though of the look that Hermione had given him when he had left. He had hurt her, but he knew that she had hurt him more with this cock and bull story about them being wizards and witches. He wanted to hurt her, but he knew he couldn't do anything to her.

"Harry?" She said, a sharp intake of breath, "Please turn around."

"I don't want to…" he said quietly, not lifting his head very far up. "They used to tell me that I was a freak, I wasn't normal. I knew there was something spectacular about me; I don't want this anymore." He didn't dare turn around to see her sympathetic face. "I want to be Harry Potter; normal boy. I don't want to be the savior of a huge world I didn't even know existed. I don't want them to be right!" He took a deep breath. "I can't give them that satisfaction."

"You are not a freak, Harry Potter!" He could feel her breathing down his back, chilling and cold as he felt its presence there. "You are a normal human being, just like… me. Am I a freak?"

"No," he said, turning around, "you're special."

She smiled and he looked up, "Good; because so are you." He looked up into her chocolate eyes and found what he needed most. She looked down at him, extended her hand and pulled him up to a few inches about her head. She brushed a piece of dirt off his shirt and said, "Come, Harry."

"Where are you taking me?"

She didn't answer. She grabbed his hand hard and he followed. He didn't know where they were going, so he simply followed. She took him past the trash bin at the end of the driveway and past the park with the ridged steps leading up to swings that he had swung on so many times as a child. This was the place he had first been beaten up by Dudley; when he was four and a half. She took his arm and violently and shook him right in front of her.

"Look at this tree, Harry."

He looked up at the apple tree in which they had met. It looked exactly the same that it had four weeks ago; still as bright and the apples growing at the top full of life and joy. He turned to her and she looked back at him. "What are we doing here?"

"This tree is just like you Harry," she answered, sitting on a nearby branch. "At first, when I came to climb on it, I was scared that it might shot me down and reject me from its many branches of love. That's when I realized it was just like me; helpless, caring and in need of something that it couldn't find. It needed to know how to love; it never knew. It was frozen, in this exact spot and it didn't know that it could be loved by one person so much." She looked at him, her head down, "This tree is just like you; anything but ordinary."

"I want to be ordinary," Harry answered, tugging forcefully on one of the leaves overhead, "That's all I really ever wanted."

"I know," she answered, "That's all I ever wanted too." She took another deep breath, and turned to him, smiling proudly, "Let's be extraordinary together; what do you say? Do you want to come to Hogwarts with me, Harry?"

"They can't keep me away from you," he said, smiling, "I'm extraordinary."

She laughed and pulled him into a fierce hug. They both just stood there for a moment, both not really wanting to let go of the other. Hermione just felt weightless as she sunk into his arms, the arms of the person who understood her. Harry, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel amazing as he let her rest her head on his shoulders. This was the first time he had felt this way in all of his life; she was his first real friend.

* * *

"Look at that owl, Harry!"

Harry smiled at Hermione, taking in his magical surroundings with a bit of sucked in air as he looked from her to the amazing owl perched on her side. He smiled again as he ran a finger through his hair, fingering the owl with two of his rugged fingers, dirty from this morning when they had both had thrown dirt at each other back at the apple tree. For the past three and a half weeks, they had spent all of their spare time at the apple tree, making up games and looking for rocks and stones to throw up at apples that they wished to get down and eat.

Harry had felt it nice to be next to Hermione a lot lately, and just her voice was soothing in the background whenever he was feeling weird about going to Hogwarts. After apologizing to Mrs. Figg, he had let her explain the rest of the story to him about the Boy-Who-Lived. He found it fascinating, but still couldn't believe it was him.

This morning they had set off for Diagon Alley with Mrs. Figg and Hermione's mother; her farther hadn't been around much since he had huge conventions to go to all the time. Hermione's mum was taking some time off to deal with Hermione and the problems she was going to be having with her witch skills. She had broken three vases in one day, and it seemed her mother would be very happy to get her out of the house. It seemed she had broken enough already.

"We'll be going to the Gringotts Bank, children." She said, and smiled as Mrs. Figg had given her instructions, "Harry will be able to get himself the money left over from his vault and I'm planning to set Hermione up with a vault with the money translated into galleons."

Harry led Hermione into the bank full of goblins for bank tellers as they followed Mrs. Figg and a reluctant Mrs. Granger inside. Harry took a look around and felt right scared when one of them peered over his desk to look at them, looming in a very odd way indeed. Harry felt Hermione shiver next to him after they came to get a better look at him.

"I think they like you," Hermione whispered, as she pointed at three of them who were also peering down at him from their stalls above. "I don't believe I can return the favor," she said, smiling just a bit as she got a better look at them. Harry peered over at them as well and frowned as he saw them. The looked ragged and old, their skin peeling and faces pointed and hooked in ways Harry had never seen before. He breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the end of the hallways and they stopped looking at him.

He pulled his right sleeve down and returned to their work. "Excuse me?" Mrs. Figg was talking to a strict looking one in the front, as he looked down at her, his pointed ears and his face matching perfectly with his horrified and annoyed expression. "I was wondering whether we could get a rough estimate at the amount of galleons inside Mr. Potter's vault." She pulled Harry forward and the goblin peered down at him as well.

"Does he have his key?" The goblin looked up at him with utmost disgrace and displeasure as he looked from Mrs. Figg to Harry. He hadn't even noticed either of the Granger's that stood behind them, awestruck at the annoying goblin. "Well…" the goblin replied, obviously annoyed.

Mrs. Figg dropped the key onto the table and the goblin eyed her with an annoyed look. He reached for what looked like a very large scroll and he seemed to be peering down. His slimy hand stopped as he reached a part of the page, and he smirked, silently chuckling to himself as he read out the number of the amount of money. "The amount in Mr. Potter's vault now reaches around 800,786 galleons, 456,734 sickles and 98,765 knuts."

Harry almost fell backwards. "How many pounds is that, Mr. Goblin?"

The goblin looked repulsed at even being called 'Mr. Goblin' and Harry could obviously tell his disgust as he heard him say, "Muggle money," as he traced his finger down the paper again in obvious hatred, "1.5 million pounds, foolish mortal." The goblin closed its mouth and went back to peering down at the quartet, still in obvious distaste. "Is there anything else?"

Mrs. Granger almost seemed too scared to even talk to the creature, but Mrs. Figg pursed her lips and looked up at the hairy goblin, before replying in her most sudden voice, "Mrs. Granger would like to set up an account for her daughter using pounds to be converted into galleons, sickles and Knuts please."

The goblin looked down at the blonde woman and looked as though it was sighing, deciding whether it wanted to do the muggle's bidding or not. "How much will she be depositing?" He asked, again looking very annoyed as he pursed his lips, afraid she had some sort of disease of some sort. Harry sent him his best acquired glare he could come up with in a moment's notice, but the goblin ignored him. Harry supposed it was better that way anyway.

"I would like to deposit 87,965 pounds, sir." She had, for the first time, got the courage to talk to the foul and ugly smelling creature and it looked at her as though she was covered in some dirt that was to be scrubbed vigoursly. Harry visibly saw her flinch when it rested its eyes onto her, but she relaxed and stayed cool. "How many galleons would that equal?"

"45,867 galleons, 23,451 sickles and 9,476 knuts," It said, not even looking at her as it starred her in the eye, again, in obvious distaste. Harry wondered for a moment if that look had plastered onto his face or he just thought it was fun to obviously and constantly look as though someone had left an unpleasant odor around wherever he went. He obviously was not a very happy goblin.

"Will that be all?"

"Yes; thank you for your services."

The goblin obviously did not care for being thanked and stalked off in a mad huff and rage. Mrs. Figg and Mrs. Granger led the way into Ollivander's Wand Shop and Hermione let out a small squeal as she ran into the shop. The shop was extremely creepy looking, damp and felt of an odor that may have been heavily exposed to the annoyed goblin ten minutes previous. Harry let everything slip his mind as the old man popped out of nowhere. He turned around, realizing that he and Hermione were alone with the weird man as the parent's had left to go and get there books on the corner store.

"Ah; Granger and Potter, who wants to go first?"

Harry raised an eyebrow and let Hermione go first. Hermione took a while as he took out his tape measure and measured her arm in many different ways, some Harry would have never guessed had even existed before he stepped into the shop. Hermione was shaking visibly as he maneuvered her in a very weird way. She tried six wands before she got the right one, squealing in delight.

Harry stepped forward, shaking nervously as Ollivander repeated the process again. He felt as though he was poking sticks through his back. When it came time to find a wand, he was much more difficult than Hermione. He briefly wondered if there was even a wand that had ever been made that was supposed to be for him. As Ollivander said though, the wand chooses the wizard; but here's a question: Where's the wand?

After digging for the eleventh time, he came up with a wand. It was eleven inches and holly, made of a phoenix feather. Feeling slightly odd about this one he waved it. He felt an odd sensation run down his back as he did so, terrified of the chill he got from it.

"Curious; very curious."

"What's curious?" Harry asked, watching as Ollivander looked at the both of them and then settling on Harry's scar. He felt another twinge of odd fall on his wand as Ollivander starred at him. "What's so curious?"

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, and I know that the wand you hold had a phoenix who gave another feather; only one. It is curious that you be destined for that wand, when its brother gave you that scar." Harry could not longer feel his heart beat as he turned over to Hermione, his face in obvious confusion, screwed his face up and said,

"Let's go."

* * *

Two weeks later, they sat on the Hogwarts Express, candy crawled across the compartment and Harry's new owl, Hedwig perched on the seat. Hermione had told him all about the books they were supposed to be reading and Harry had read both the Potions book and the Defense book twice before they arrived at Hogwarts.

At the moment, Hermione was opening a chocolate frog while reading her Transfiguration book and Harry was relaxing on the other side of the compartment, his feet up on the other side of the compartment, stuffing licorice wands into his mouth.

Hermione gave him slightly disgusted look before getting up to brush the dirt off her clothes. She then suggested they get changed and Harry flushed an odd shade of pink. Hermione had gotten into a small closet to give Harry some privacy. He changed quickly and fast to make sure she saw nothing and nobody walked in, still flushed when she came out, holding her book in her arms, Hogwarts seal across her uniform. Harry raised an eyebrow and they sat in silence for the rest of the ride.

When they finally arrived at the massive building, Harry choked on his own spit as he saw the size of the castle. Hermione, behind him followed him into a boat with a boy named Neville Longbottom and some kid named Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas. They both ignored the rest as Hermione scolded Harry for his mouthful of chocolate. They both ended up in a fit of hysterical laughter.

Dragging Harry inside, still half laughing, Hermione pointed out a large stool with a huge big black cap on it. Harry peered at it more carefully and stepped back in hesitance as it began to sign.

"_Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see, _

_I'll eat myself if you can find a _

_Smarter hat then me. You can _

_Keep your bowlers black, your_

_Top hats sleek and tall, for I'm_

_The Hogwarts Sorting Hat and _

_I can cap them all. There's nothing_

_In your head the Sorting Hat can't _

_See, so try me on and I will tell_

_You where you ought to be. You _

_May belong in Gryffindor, where _

_Dwell the brave at heart, their daring,_

_Nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they _

_Are just and loyal, those patient Hufflepuffs_

_Are true and unafraid of toil; Or yet wise old_

_Ravenclaw, if you're a ready mind, where of wit_

_And learning will always find their kind; Or perhaps_

_In Slytherin you'll make your real friends, those cunning_

_Folk use any means to achieve their ends. So put me on!_

_Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap! You're in safe_

_Hands (though I have none) for I'm a thinking cap!_

Harry smiled widely as some red-head le tout a sigh of relief and mumbled something about his brother and a troll. Harry didn't have time to think about ti as the professor had begun to call names with her scroll,

"Abbot, Hannah."

After a while, there were not too many students left.

"Granger, Hermione."

Harry felt his head go numb. What if they were in two different houses? He hadn't even thought about it; what kind of friend was he? He couldn't tell what the hat was saying, but he could tell that Hermione was squirming under it. He only hoped his friend would be alright; he needed her to be alright! He wasn't extraordinary without her!

"_Ah… Ms. Granger, is it?"_

"_Yes, sir, Mr. Hat, sir."  
_

"_Mr. Hat, sir? What polite manners you have don't you?"_

"_Okay…"_

"_Let's see what I see in this tangled mess of your head then, shouldn't we?" The hat could smile, and if she knew what it looked like she'd be able to tell he was smiling as he said, "Ah." She could tell he was very pleased_

"_You have logic that is coming out to your ears, you love to study and you have a quiet studious side, yes, Ravenclaw is a possible option. Hufflepuff seems an okay option; your hard-working yes, loyal as much as the next man, but I believe you wouldn't fit to well there. Brave and courageous you seem to be, willing to take a whim for what you believe in; yes Gryffindor is good as well. Ah, Slytherin…"_

"_Slytherin? I'm a muggleborn?"_

"_Ah… I don't believe it matters. Ambition you have a surplus, Ms. Granger; after all, was it you who said you wanted to be extraordinary? You sure do have a streak of getting you own, don't you? With that and being as sly and witty as you are, Ms. Granger, I do believe that Slytherin is a remarkable option for you. The logical part of Ravenclaw can also be tied in with the drive and ambition of Slytherin; something you must certainly have a surplus of…"_

"_Please, Mr. Hat; they'll hate me!"_

"_Ah, but I don't believe they will. Plus, Slytherin will show you just how tough you are…"_

"SLYTHERIN!"

Hermione looked around from under the hat, on the brink of tears as she made sure that nobody knew it. Maybe that was what the hat meant when it said that she was tough. Harry started to clap and Draco Malfoy looked from him to Hermione with a look of confusion,

"Isn't she a mudblood?"

The sorting hat ceremony went on though, as Draco Malfoy went to Slytheirn and then not long after, Harry went up to the hat.

"'_Mr. Potter,' the Sorting Hat rang in his voice, its low voice pounding in his head like a beat of drums. He needed not to think about the hat; think about Hermione. He saw her on the other side of the room, waving and smiling as Draco Malfoy sent her death glares from three seats away._

"_You are a talented young boy, and a very smart boy. You have a definite thirst to prove yourself and a loyalty that nobody can match. You are courageous and god there's talent, of yes… I know where to put you…"_

"_I need to be with Hermione…"_

_He could have sworn he heard the hat chuckle in his ear. "Yes, but Mr. Potter, you need to fend for yourself, which is why you truly belong in…_

"Slytherin!"

He sat down next to Hermione, and for right now ignored all the stares they were getting as she clapped him on the back, smiling broadly.

* * *

A/N: Please review.

S.S.M.


	3. Disgust

Disgust

* * *

Draco was watching the pair of them laughing and eating over a small and silent smile every few moments of hearty laughter. _Pathetic, _he thought to himself, _this is not right. _That mudblood is going to infuriate him far too much, he could tell. He narrowed his eyes to slits when he looked at her, and she quickly detracted from his lane of sight, turning back to Potter. She wasn't that horrible looking and she did seem to know an awful lot about magic, but it wasn't like it mattered, she was a mudblood. _Nothing, _he repeated to himself, inside his head as he smirked, _Will change that. Mark my words._

It seemed everyone was staring at the two most unlikely Slytherins. Blaise patted him on the back when he choked on a bit of his egg. Pansy looked over, concerned, but Draco threw a nasty glance. He was now in an official bad mood, and it all revolved around Potter and the mudblood. He saw Theodore Nott glancing at the muggleborn girl and Draco looked repulsed. _How can he possibly look at her? _He asked himself, appalled that a boy from such an up-standing family would stoop so low as to look at Granger.

Then he realized he had been staring as well. He quickly went back to his plate, face in obvious disbelief as he shot the weary Slytherins a departing and final look before he got up and followed the prefects back to their dormitories. He saw Nott looking at her intently the entire way there. _Disgusting, _he murmured and followed Blaise into their dormitory.

There were five first year Slytherin boy dormitories, four to a room, so twenty new Slytherin boys and he was relieved to see that he would share with Blaise. He only hoped for two more roommates that would be respectable in at least the least bit. He was however, surprised to find Harry Potter sitting on the left side of one of the beds nearest the window, staring out of it. He sneered slightly before sighing and unpacking his toothbrush and advancing on the bathroom.

When inside, he saw Theodore Nott already occupying the bathroom, and frowned a bit. He knew that having to share a room with Potter would be bad enough, but to have to share it with the annoying muggle-lover Nott was too much for him. He had never once considered that maybe Nott had been looking at her in annoyance and repulse due to his annoyed state.

He knew he would have rather have had Crabbe and Goyle; they were mostly quiet and Crabbe was as dumb as a doornail, so he always asked questions. Draco, deep inside, liked answering Crabbe's stupid questions because it gave him a sense of security and knowledge Crabbe never had. Greg, however, contrary to popular belief, was very quiet when not out in the open. He would only open his mouth to make some rude comment about a question that Vincent had asked. He usually stayed within himself, staring out the window and in his own world. Draco could never tell what that boy was thinking, he was so quiet and you'd never guess he was there. Sometimes, Draco would catch him bullying the kids at Pre-Wizard Schooling to into checking books out from the library and giving them to him. They had always assumed he ripped them up in some gorilla like state, but Draco had seen him read them and knew he had a huge stash of books under his bed probably as he thought this, and realized that Greg would have brought his books with him.

Potter reminded him of Greg, in some sense, as he stared out the window, entranced by the outside. He sneered when he realized Potter was watching him, and quickly looked back to the door opposite them and smirked. He wasn't in the least bit tired, so he got up and marched into the Common to check the Dormitory bulletin. When he came upon it, he read the boys:

_**Dormitory #1:**_

_**James Astern**_

_**Nicholas McTyson**_

_**Vincent Crabbe**_

_**Percy Commonwealth**_

_**Dormitory #2:**_

_**Theodore Nott**_

_**Blaise Zabini**_

_**Harry Potter**_

_**Draco Malfoy**_

_**Dormitory #3**_

_**Henry Sapper**_

_**Miles Portridge**_

_**Benjamin Ageer**_

_**Colin O'Leary**_

_**Dormitory #4:**_

_**Fredrick Barns**_

_**Timothy Elory**_

_**Jack Minden**_

_**Ralph Spines**_

_**Dormitory #5:**_

_**Daniel Spicman**_

_**Xavier Lestrange**_

_**Connor Lestrange**_

_**Gregory Goyle**_

He smirked; he knew that Greg would love to get away from Crabbe's annoying chatter constantly keeping him from staring vacantly out the window. He peered down and realized he hadn't read the girls sleeping arrangement and smirked as he read so.

_**Dormitory #1:**_

_**Canya Plissé**_

_**Jacqueline McDover**_

_**Angelina Astron**_

_**Danielle Georgetown**_

_**Dormitory #2:**_

_**Pansy Parkinson**_

_**Amelia Gindro**_

_**Daphne Greengrass**_

_**Hermione Granger**_

He didn't need to go on. This was all he needed to know, as he gritted his teeth in obvious annoyance; how'd he get stuck with the mudblood! He'd have to get a call down to those idiot house elves to re-do the order because there was no way he was going to tolerate the mudblood in every single class. Seeing as they were both in the Dormitory #2 category, and they were both the last on the list, they had to be partners with that person for every class for the year. He groaned. He smiled when he knew Nott was with Pansy, shrugged it off when Blaise was meant to be with the Gindro girl and Potter was with Greengrass. He was lucky, and Draco knew it. Daphne was one of the softer Slytherin girls and she wouldn't make fun of him much. He groaned again.

This was not good. The mudblood, for all hours of the day, every day and all year! He couldn't stop groaning, even after he had gone back into the dorm and lay his head down on the pillow. He lay there for at least twenty minutes before his head finally gave in to sleep.

* * *

Harry woke up to the smell of steam omitting from the bathroom. He looked around and realized that Theodore was no longer in his bed. Draco was snoring loudly at his bed and Harry managed to stifle a laugh under his pillow. Blaise Zabini gave him a dark look from where he was sitting and dried his hair off with a towel he had gotten when he just took a shower.

Five minutes later, Theodore was out of the bathroom and Harry had gone in before Draco could even open his eyes. After about ten minutes, he came out, dressed in his robes and found the Slytherin badge next to his bed and looked over at Theodore, drying his hair with his towel. Draco didn't even look at him as he marched for the bathroom, his head up so high Harry thought it might disappear into an overhead cloud zooming by. He pinned the badge to his chest and sat down, taking out his Potions book, a bottle of ink and a roll of parchment.

After Blaise had left, it was only Theodore and himself, getting dressed for Potions. Draco had come out of the bathroom looking angry and stormed into his stuff, grabbing his clothes and shoving his night clothes in the place his clothes had once been. He shuttered when he saw the other two occupants and steadily moved to the other side of the room to the doorway and out into the common. "Reckon we should go to breakfast?"

Theodore nodded, without saying much and smiled at him. They both made there way through the steep stone steps and through the dungeons to breakfast.

Harry looked at the paintings along the way and wondered how Hermione's day was going so far.

* * *

Hermione woke up, rubbing her eyes and making sure that she drew the curtain out far enough so that she could get some light in. According to the clock on the wall, it was five past six and she got out bed, waiting for the other girls to awake. She then decided to go and take a shower before any of the other girls got up, making sure she got a head start. Breakfast didn't start until eight so most of them wouldn't be up soon. After she had gotten herself a towel, she got into the shower and tried to shower as quickly as possible.

When she got out about ten minutes later, she dried herself off. She also used some drying charm to dry her hair that she had seen in some book she had read over the summer at Mrs. Figg's house. After she had gotten out of her night clothes and into her school uniform, she opened the door and walked out. There, looking angry as ever, was Pansy Parkinson. She sneered as she looked from Hermione to the wet towel in her hands. She hoisted the towel out of her hands and threw it on the ground. She stood eye-level to Hermione and smirked as she picked the towel back up. "Who gave you permission to use the bathroom, mudblood?"

"You need permission?" Hermione asked skeptically, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. She could have sworn she heard Daphne Greengrass trying to suppress a laugh and Amelia Gindro violently sneezing to cover up her laugh. It seemed, for the time being, Pansy was ignoring them. "Well, Pansy, I'll be sure to call on you if I ever need to use the bathroom again, sound good?"

"Don't cheek around with me mudblood," she said, flipped her hair in Hermione's general direction and marched into the bathroom without a second glance. Hermione sat on her bed and waited a moment before she put on her shoes and took her books out of her knapsack. When everyone had come out and were ready to go to breakfast, Pansy had cornered Hermione in the corridor. "So, mudblood; who told you it was alright to be in Slytherin? Is this the Headmaster's plan to find out what goes on in Slytherin, eh? Snape won't tell him anything so he has to bribe the dumb hat to put you and Potter in Slytherin, yeah? Well, guess what, I see through that mask you're hiding under, Granger, and I'll rip you apart."

"Leave her alone, Pansy."

The voice came from behind the staircase and out come Daphne Greengrass, clutching her bag as though she was about to hit Pansy with it. Hermione looked up, stared at the girl for a moment, and looked back at Pansy, smirking. Pansy looked from Daphne to Hermione, and sneered. "You're making the wrong choice, Greengrass, and you'll get yours; hanging around with a mudblood, some good it'll do you."

"If you are doubting why I got into Slytherin, Parkinson, then just test me and see what you find, why don't you? Lay your worst on me and see if I fight back. Poor little Hermione Granger, can't do anything, can I?"

Pansy was staring at her, enraged. "You'll get yours mudblood, you'll get yours."

"I doubt that," she answered back and turned to Daphne. "Er—Thanks," she said, looking around for the Entrance to the Great Hall. "I probably wouldn't have been able to handle that on my own if she hadn't been so shaken to see you stand up for me." They were both silent for a moment. Hermione took the Slytherin badge from her bag she had gotten this morning and pinned it to her robes. Daphne looked at her smiling, and then looked at Pansy.

"Don't worry about it," she answered, smiling slightly, "Why don't you show the cow why you were really sorted into Slytherin why don't you then; make her figure something out by herself if she can hold that much brainpower at one time." Hermione smiled, looked to her and then pocketed her ink and quill she had taken out to get the badge. "We have Potions first, by the way. I checked the list, did you?"

"Checked the list?" She asked, perplexed.

"Er—yeah, for your partners."

"Partners?"

"You know, the person you'll be working with for the year. Well, I'm guessing you didn't look at it yet, so I know for a fact your with Draco Malfoy. I'm with Harry Potter, your friends with him, right?" She stopped to look back at Hermione who had dropped a book about a few steps back. When she picked it up, they kept on going until they reached the hall. "I'd watch out for Draco, he'll want to make you think he's better than he is."

Hermione smiled. "You'll like Harry, he's really nice."

Daphne smiled back. They both walked into the Great Hall together. Hermione spotted Harry sitting next to Theodore Nott and rushed over. She sat opposite the boys and then Daphne resumed to her side as she reached for some food. After Hermione and Harry had asked each other about their first nights there, Hermione was introduced to Theodore Nott and Daphne was introduced to Harry. They both hit off quite well, and Hermione could see out of the corner of her eye that Harry was staring a bit too intently at her and she was looking slightly red.

Theodore, on the other hand, was very hard to understand. He flashed her a smile before he dug into his food, almost no emotion held on his face from there onward. Daphne pointed Malfoy out to her and sure enough he was sitting with Blaise Zabini being flaunted by Pansy pouring herself all over her.

Hermione sighed; she did _not_ want to work with him.

* * *

Draco looked from Pansy to the mudblood in obvious distaste. He licked his lips from the pumpkin juice and turned to Blaise, who was currently in a discussion with one of the Lestrange brothers; Xavier. He could never tell which was which, honestly. He knew they were related, he had known that their Aunt was in fact his Aunt as well, but not by the same blood. His mother had been a Black and a sister to Bellatrix Black-Lestrange. They were the children of some veela from France from a powerful family called the _Malison_ family and Rabastan Lestrange, Rodoluphus' brother. Rodoluphus was Bellatrix's husband and Draco had met him only twice in his life.

He continued to stare at the mudblood talking with the Nott boy and the Greengrass girl, and of course, Potter. They were the most famous duo in all of Hogwarts and they had only been here for a fortnight. He knew that it would all be forgotten, but at the present time, a mudblood and the boy-who-lived in Slytherin were the most interesting things at Hogwarts these days.

Find something more entertaining to talk about!

He grudgingly agreed to go to Potions. He wasn't exactly enthusiastic to spend an hour and a half with the mudblood but… it couldn't be that bad, could it? _No_, Draco told himself, _it won't be that bad._

When he came around the corner for the Potions he spotted Weasley and Granger talking to each other in hushed voices. _Obviously, _he thought, _being a mudblood wasn't enough; she has to disgrace us further by being friends with a _Weasley. He heard them then arguing and he knew they couldn't see him. He hid behind a pillar and watched.

"So Granger, I thought you were a muggleborn, how come you're in Slytherin?" Weasley asked, narrowing his eyes in disgust at her. "Are you really a muggleborn or is some sort of joke to have your pure-blood bigot friends some insight on us Gryffindors? I know what you're up to, Granger, if that's even your real name."

"Please get out of the way."

"Please get out of the way," he mimicked and his lackeys laughed behind him, one being the Irish kid Seamus Finnigan and the other was a small black boy he thought was named Dean Thomas. He was muggleborn too, wasn't he? _A bit of a hypocrite, isn't he?_

All the sudden, a voice sounded from the other side of the room. "You should stop harassing her, Ron."

He turned around to find Longbottom standing there, his eyes narrowing down at Weasley. Draco held in his shock as Ron rounded on Neville. "What'd you say Longbottom?" Draco only caught a glimpse of Ron's back, but before he could think he had shot a curse at his back. Ron slumped to the ground in a body-bind curse and Hermione and Neville stood there, shell shocked.

"What happened here?" Snape barked as he came out of his Office.

"Er--" Neville began, a little white in the face, watching Snape's face with utmost horror. "I was…"

"Spit it out boy!"

"Weasley was about to attack Longbottom and I hit him with a body-bind curse," Draco drawled, and out of the corner of his eye he saw that Neville was staring at him and Hermione was giving him an incredulous look of disbelief. Snape looked as though he couldn't blink anymore when he heard that Draco had said this, and immediately turned on Neville.

"Is this true?"

"Yes sir," Neville said very fast and anxious. "Very well," Snape added. "For his complete lack of a brain at all, Weasley will receive two weeks worth of detention and one-hundred points off Gryffindor for his serious lack of judgment. Very well; Draco, you and Longbottom will escort Weasley to the Hospital Wing." With a flick of his wand, Ron went up in the air with a levitation charm and he and Neville began to follow the body.

"I've got a proposition for you, Longbottom."

"What?" Neville asked, perplexed.

"I'll help you gain your confidence back and show you how to stand up for yourself against Snape and the other Gryffindors and I'll tutor you in your worst subject…" He said, and Neville looked as white as a ghost, "and in return I'd like you to report to me and tell me whenever the Gryffindor password is changed and what it has been changed to."

Neville gulped. "Why do you need to…?"

"Hmm… In addition to that I'll teach you to fly, how's that?"

"To fly?"

"Yes, Longbottom."

Neville pondered this for a moment and then, just as they were outside the doors for the Hospital Wing, he turned around and sighed, "Fine. My worst subject is Potions."

"Brilliant," Draco said, smirking as he looked from Longbottom to Weasley with a happy smile on his face as he turned away to walk back to Potions. He may have to teach Longbottom Potions and how to stand up for himself, but the expression on the Gryffindors when Longbottom stands up to Weasley will be priceless… Not to mention the fact I now have access to the Gryffindor Common Room. This will be better than anyone will believe.

"Meet me in the Library tomorrow, Longbottom."

He turned away to the other side of the dungeon, smirking.

He didn't notice the look Hermione Granger gave him as he sat down.

* * *

A/n: Hope you liked it. Review please.

S.S.M.


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